This is the moment a BBC film crew were held by security teams at the notoriously secretive Area 51 - where conspiracy theorists believe the American government is hiding a flying saucer.

Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell and UFO
expert Darren Perks sneaked past the border at the site - and were forced to lie on the
ground at gunpoint for three hours while the FBI checked their
credentials.

It is the same 'documentary' team that caused outrage in Britain last week when they suggested that the 7/7 London bombings were part of a government conspiracy to boost support for the Iraq war.

Scroll down for video

Do not enter: The moment the team sneak into Area 51 - and security teams immediately step in to arrest them

A member of Area 51's security team can be seen (second from left) talking to the group

The 'UFO: Conspiracy Road Trip' documentary, airing next Monday, will show how the BBC film crew were arrested at gunpoint.

They were forced to lie on the ground for three hours as guards surrounded them armed with M16 assault rifles.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

The
crew, 12 people in total, were investigating Area 51 in Nevada - where
the U.S. military allegedly hold the bodies of aliens and the remnants
of ships which crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

As they crossed the border, military officers arrested them, confiscating their phones, wallets and identification.

Darren told the Mail Online: 'Basically the concept
of the trip was to tour across California, Arizona and Nevada with
comedian presenter Andrew Maxwell and four people who had an interest in
the UFO phenomena.

'We went to Area 51 in Nevada firstly
because it’s related to the UFO phenomena and secondly so we could do a
night time sky watch to see if we could spot anything unusual.

'On May 14 we arrived there at approximately 5pm.'

Getting ready to cross: The team of 12 hesitate at the gates - and then decide to cross over

All quiet... The team were able to hang around on the border for 30 minutes without interruption

'We drove to the nearby township of
Rachel which is the closet public residency to Area 51 base and drove
down a dirt road to the ‘Back Gate’ of Area 51 officially known as
‘Rachel Gate NT TR Boundary North’.

'We stopped the tour bus approx 50 metres from the restricted area barriers and started to film.

'There was no one around, no guards, no vehicles - nothing.

'We filmed for approximately 30 minutes and tried to call the guards but there was no one there and no sign of them.

'So we all decided to walk past the
barriers onto the restricted area past the security huts and basically
onto Area 51. Nothing happened....'

Taken within the base: The team managed a few images before they were captured, showing some of the out-houses of the base

The back gate of Area 51: The team risked six months in jail by entering

He continued: 'We filmed again for another 30 minutes and even messed around doing a silly dance, but still no guards.

'Then
one of the other stars of the trip pointed out that on looking through
one of the security hut windows, she could see the guards all sitting
down eating dinner and watching the basketball game on TV. They did
nothing.

'So after a few
more minutes and a few more picture taking and filming, one of the crew
decided to speak to the guards and knocked on their hut door. All hell
broke loose.'

'The guards rushed out with their weapons and forced us all to lay face down at gunpoint in the tarmac.

'We were all searched, had our phones, wallets and IDs taken and the film equipment taken. This was at approx 6:15pm.

'For three hours we lay face down until the Lincoln County Sheriffs arrived on scene.

'Things then eased off a bit and we were all then taken one by one off the restricted area to the sheriffs who issued us with a ticket and grilled us about what we were doing. We all got fined £375 each.

'We were told that this incident was so serious that Washington had to call London to advise that 12 'Brits' had just breached security at America's most top-secret military base and that we all were at one point going to jail for six months.

'Luckily whoever it was in Washington was kind enough to just fine us.'

Strange lights in the sky: It took three hours until the team could resume filming again (...and the strange light is just a searchlight!)

The team spent three hours lying on the ground while their identities were checked - then Darren was allowed back to his car, where he took more sneaky images

Written order: This warning was given to the team as they left

He continued: 'As time went on into
the evening at approximately 11pm we were allowed to stand around together
while things were signed off to let us go.

'At this point I managed to talk to
the guards a bit and one told me how they could 'make you disappear and
your body will never be found'.

UFO expert: Darren Perks is a believer that Earth has visitors

'He also pointed out that an Apache
attack helicopter had been scrambled and had been monitoring us from two
miles away and that over 20 military guards had driven up from the
actual base to deal with the incident. There were quite a few of them
there with guns!

'One guard I quizzed let slip that
there are sensors in the ground that can detect approaching vehicles and
walkers up in the nearby mountains, so they know if people are getting
too close as they cannot put fences up because the area is so big.

'Then at about 11:30pm we were allowed to leave on the bus and we went back to our hotel at the nearby town of Alamo Nevada.

'Because the film equipment had been
taken by the FBI we had to wait to get new kit from Vegas so we had a
day of rest but we were followed everywhere by unmarked Government
vehicles.

'They stuck out like a sore thumb to
me. It was myself that pointed this out to the others otherwise they
would not have been aware of being followed.

'The following night I conducted a
sky watch at the famous ‘mailbox’ which is really close to the Area 51
boundary and base, to see if we could see anything unusual or UFOs.

'I used a night vision device from a
company called Scott Country International and we were able to view the
training area and nearby mountains.

'It was probably the most messed-up day of my life so far - but I don’t regret it at all.'

The infamous white letter-box: This signpost is often listed on visitor guides as a sign that you are within 20 miles of the infamous base

The road leading past the base became known - colloquially and then formally - as the Extraterrestrial Highway: Darren Perks is pictured at the site

THE SECRETS OF ROSWELL

The Roswell crash has gone down in conspiracy theory circles as a U.S. government cover up.

Believers say that aliens in a flying saucer crashed in Roswell, New Mexico with badly injured aliens on board in June or July 1947.

At the time spokesmen from Roswell army air base said that a 'flying disc' was found - but just hours later retracted the statement insisting instead that it was a weather balloon.

The story took an interesting twist three years ago.

Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the base in 1947.

He was the man who issued the original and subsequent press releases after the crash on the orders of the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard.

Haut died in 2006, but left a sworn affidavit to be opened only after his death.

The text asserts that the weather balloon claim was a cover story, and that the real object had been recovered by the military and stored in a hangar.

He described seeing not just the craft, but alien bodies.

Infamous: Iconic image of the alien autopsy footage said to have been carried out after a UFO crash in 1947

Video: 'Alien autopsy' footage 'leaked from Area 51

HOW THE TEAM'S PREVIOUS DOCUMENTARY ALSO LED TO OUTRAGE

The same team
caused outrage in a previous show which suggested the 7/7 attacks were
co-ordinated by the Government to boost support for the Iraq war.

The
blasts
killed 52 people when four suicide bombers detonated their home-made
devices on Tubes and a bus during the morning rush-hour commute.

The producers destroyed a double-decker London bus in a bid to recreate the explosion in Tavistock Square that killed 13 people.

It
also featured conspiracy theorists - including model Layla Randle-Conde
- playing the parts of the bombers in a reconstruction of events.

Explosive: The team previously destroyed a London bus to explore the theory that the 7/7 bombings were a government plot to garner support for the 'war on terror'

Carnage: Thirteen people were killed when a bomb detonated on board the Number 30 bus in Tavistock Square